diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/courses.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/courses.py
index c1a51ede32..43e9b9b791 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/courses.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/courses.py
@@ -126,10 +126,9 @@ def course_image_url(course):
             url += '/' + course.course_image
         else:
             url += '/images/course_image.jpg'
-    elif course.course_image == '':
-        # if course_image is empty the url will be blank as location
-        # of the course_image does not exist
-        url = ''
+    elif not course.course_image:
+        # if course_image is empty, use the default image url from settings
+        url = settings.STATIC_URL + settings.DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL
     else:
         loc = StaticContent.compute_location(course.id, course.course_image)
         url = StaticContent.serialize_asset_key_with_slash(loc)
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_module_render.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_module_render.py
index ba9331fa6b..1f22edee36 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_module_render.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_module_render.py
@@ -794,16 +794,19 @@ class TestHtmlModifiers(ModuleStoreTestCase):
         self.assertTrue(url.startswith('/static/toy_course_dir/'))
         self.course.static_asset_path = ""
 
+    @override_settings(DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL='test.png')
+    @override_settings(STATIC_URL='static/')
     @ddt.data(ModuleStoreEnum.Type.mongo, ModuleStoreEnum.Type.split)
     def test_course_image_for_split_course(self, store):
         """
-        for split courses if course_image is empty then course_image_url will be blank
+        for split courses if course_image is empty then course_image_url will be
+        the default image url defined in settings
         """
         self.course = CourseFactory.create(default_store=store)
         self.course.course_image = ''
 
         url = course_image_url(self.course)
-        self.assertEqual('', url)
+        self.assertEqual('static/test.png', url)
 
     def test_get_course_info_section(self):
         self.course.static_asset_path = "toy_course_dir"
diff --git a/lms/envs/aws.py b/lms/envs/aws.py
index ff2676cca3..221b785966 100644
--- a/lms/envs/aws.py
+++ b/lms/envs/aws.py
@@ -131,6 +131,9 @@ if STATIC_URL_BASE:
     if not STATIC_URL.endswith("/"):
         STATIC_URL += "/"
 
+# DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL specifies the default image to show for courses that don't provide one
+DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL = ENV_TOKENS.get('DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL', DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL)
+
 # MEDIA_ROOT specifies the directory where user-uploaded files are stored.
 MEDIA_ROOT = ENV_TOKENS.get('MEDIA_ROOT', MEDIA_ROOT)
 MEDIA_URL = ENV_TOKENS.get('MEDIA_URL', MEDIA_URL)
diff --git a/lms/envs/common.py b/lms/envs/common.py
index a030bf9e51..80f42ff210 100644
--- a/lms/envs/common.py
+++ b/lms/envs/common.py
@@ -843,6 +843,7 @@ STATICFILES_DIRS = [
 ]
 
 FAVICON_PATH = 'images/favicon.ico'
+DEFAULT_COURSE_ABOUT_IMAGE_URL = 'images/pencils.jpg'
 
 # User-uploaded content
 MEDIA_ROOT = '/edx/var/edxapp/media/'
diff --git a/lms/static/images/pencils.jpg b/lms/static/images/pencils.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ae18b86276
Binary files /dev/null and b/lms/static/images/pencils.jpg differ